Ahoy Matey…..Summer Fun is here!

Well, we kicked off summer with lots of pirate fun today!

We started with the Bible Verse “Where your treasure is your heart will be also” Matthew 6:21

The kids have 3 Learn and Move Trays today….the kids complete one tray and then move to the next. Zachariah is in a Sensory Occupational Therapy Course this summer ..and I am trying to incorporate his goals there with his interest for optimal improvement and lots of fun summer learning!

Zachariah is sequencing the smallest pirate ship to the largest pirate ship.



Zachariah is using spoon tongs to transfer “gold” to number cards. He must count the correct number of pieces of gold and match them to the correct number.


Levi is using tongs to fill in a treasure map with blue pom poms!


Ava is coloring a parrot. I colored the word and she has to match the color I colored and choose the correct color to color.


These awesome pirate activities were taken from this cool site.
After lunch today….(and Zachariah’s class) we headed to Legoland for the special pirates event this weekend!
  
We rounded the corner at one point and Levi literally jumped back! This series of pictures cracks me up. He just want’ too sure about this guy:)

Little Closer……



Can you find the pirates?


Zach catches up with him a little later….

Ava didn’t want to be left out of the fun…even though she doesn’t have a costume….yet!

At the last minute….Daddy came with us today….and the kids were so glad because Daddy is like a kid in a candy store and said Yes!

We had a super fun start to summer!

Its Working For Us!!

Well even though I admitted yesterday that my house in far from perfect….and I mean FAR…I do like things fairly organized. A sweet friend of mine who is a mom to 7 children shared with me months ago that she organizes all like items into baggies and or tubs. This makes clean up super easy and efficient. We live in a nice sized home, but we don’t have a designated “play room.” The children have plenty of toys in their rooms, but I don’t like them spread out all over the rest of the house all the time. (Despite what pictures may have shown, that doesn’t mean I like it that way:() All of our bedrooms are upstairs in our home, but the majority of our time is spent downstairs….So I had to find a solution for the “toy problem.”
I found the solution in Levi’s preschool classroom. Every morning he is so excited to get into the room. His teacher always has activities on the table that instantly engage him set up ahead of time on trays.
So I wondered…. Would this work at home??
The past week or so, I have been setting up our “Learning Table” the night before with 3 activities/toys the kids can do when they wake up.
This has changed our mornings! Instead of waking up and crying, fussing for food right away, the kids are drawn to the toys and play while I make breakfast.
I choose 3 tubs or toys that are alike and then I put them away after we are finished with them for the day. When I say away, I mean up in the closet out of sight, that keeps them “new” for the next time I might choose them for an activity.
Last Saturday, the kids played with the 3 things on the table off and on all day long. Yes, they are allowed to bring out other toys during the day, but they have to clean those up one at a time before getting something new out.
If you are reading my blog, there is a good chance, that I read your blog too……so please post something that is working for your family too!
Like I said in my last post…we mama’s have to work together…love each other…and encourage one another.
Here’s a glance at what I have picked out for tomorrow! I do try to find a book that goes along with the “tray theme” just to help promote their interest in reading! Oh, another thing that works really well…is if you have a DVD or movie that goes with the tub. At some point in the day, play the DVD…it has been fun watching my kids imitate with their toys what they are seeing on the screen.